Being in Love
by Siriusly Lovely
Summary: this is for the 100 Pairing Challenge. Trying to get back into writing again and I love writing about love and couples, as I"m sure you can tell. Just stories about being in love whatever age.
1. HarryGinny

It was fall. More than that, it was October, the twenty second day in October when she found out. The leaves were turning and it was beginning to turn cold. Ginny didn't especially enjoy being outside in the cold weather but she had reason enough that day.

She had left her jacket at home in her haste to make it to the appointment on time. It just sat there useless on the brown stand next to their front door. Her mother had told her not to buy a red wool jacket because it would clash with her hair but Ginny had fallen in love with the color and the texture and how dreadfully warm it made her feel, inside and out. And when she stood next to Harry in all the dark colors he fancied wearing she looked spectacular. That was the real reason.

The doctor's office had been cold, sterile, uninviting. She'd been quite uncomfortable with the whole thing but too many people would have known her at St. Mungo's. It wasn't the sort of thing you wanted everyone to know. There was really no other choice than to have Hermione help her set up a Muggle doctor's appointment.

Hermione, bless her heart. That girl was better to Ginny than she deserved, especially after the way she had let Hermione flounder after her brother for years and not given her an ounce of help. Never mind that now, though, everything had turned out the way it was supposed to in the end. Hermione was almost to term now; the baby would come any day now Ginny was sure.

When they had called her name Ginny had followed the female nurse through the door with her hands shoved in the pockets of her denim jeans. She felt silly, her palms sweating like she was about to take an exam at school, comparing it to her OWLS of all things as the door swung shut behind her and she was trapped in sterile hell.

The end of her appointment could not have come quick enough. She walked with more vigor than she had entering when she swept out of the building, her cheeks flushing in the cold wind she was hardly prepared for. Quiet tears slid down her cheeks as she passed people in the street but did not see them. Somehow she ended up at a park she had visited with Hermione on a visit to the city once. They had watched children run up and down the lawn, beaming and shouting in their joyousness.

Today there were not hordes of children. Instead there were only two others present. A mother, rubbing her hands together in the cold as her jacket hung around her, smiled largely as a small boy ran towards her, his arms stretched wide. In one quick movement the woman lifted the child into the air and spun him around in an enormous hug. There were no other people in the world that mattered to them in that instant and Ginny knew it. Perhaps they were waiting for the boy's father to finish a business meeting or meet them for dinner. Perhaps the father did not exist in their life. Perhaps he had run off to have an adventure, the never ending adventures. Perhaps she was raising him on her own.

She couldn't just sit there anymore. No more tears came but Ginny's breath was labored as she walked quickly away from that spot. Hurrying for no reason in particular, she rushed out of the park and back towards the area where she had gone to the doctors. Instead of continuing to the end of the street to the office again she turned down an alley way. As soon as she was out of site of the street Ginny turned on the spot.

There was the familiar pull at her bellybutton as she aparated back to the familiar lane they lived on. For a moment she simply stood and looked on at the cottage she shared with her husband. It was small, humble, everything she had wanted in a home. She had told him and he had listened and she would never be able to thank him enough for that. It wasn't far from the Burrow so she could visit whenever she pleased but it was just far enough away that her mother was not coming round every minute of the day. That was definitely a plus.

Walking up the stone pathway through their little garden, Ginny stopped again at the welcome mat. It was a silly thing, a muggle thing, but it had been a house warming present from Hermione and Ron and it really made her feel like she had arrived. Strangely, the site of that mat also calmed her down just a bit, making it easier for her to reach out and grasp the metal door handle to go inside.

Stepping through the threshold, Ginny closed the door behind her. Her fingers fell to the wooden stand beside the door. Someone had hung up her jacket because it was no longer there. Taking a few steps further in, she confirmed that the lights in the kitchen and the living room were off. Continuing deeper into the house she passed the door to the bedroom they had shared for the past year and hesitated for just a moment before pushing open the door to the study.

He was in there, as he always was, sitting at the desk with a light on and leaning over some book that looked like it was worn and weathered. She smiled at the sight of him. It was a natural reaction she could hardly fight. After all, it had been years since she had first loved him, years since he had saved her life from a diary, years since he had looked at her and really seen her for the first time…

As soon as the door opened he turned his head towards it, that messy black hair becoming even more unkempt if that was possible, though she didn't think it was. A smile spread across his face as well, matching her own. "Hey, you. Where've you been?"

Ginny didn't answer. She just walked over to him. When he turned his chair for her she sat carefully down on his lap and put her arms around his neck. Even in this position he had the advantage on her in terms of height, which was hilarious because her brothers were all giant compared to him. She felt like a child sometimes sitting with him like this but it was also very intimate and she loved it. Breathing in the scent of him she leaned against him, letting her head find that perfect niche in his shoulder for her head. It had been a long day.

He stroked her hair as she sat there and she cherished the feeling. "You left your jacket when you left. I was worried you might be cold." As if to check if she had been, his hand rubbed the still goose pimpled flesh on the arm that was not against his chest. But still she did not speak. Instead she just sat there and enjoyed his doting on her, as though he had been missing her all day, which she was sure he had been.

After a few moments had passed she felt his breathing becoming steady, paced, and she worried he would fall asleep like that. It had been known to happen.

"Harry?"

Immediately she knew he had not dozed off, that he had simply been comfortable. His arms laced around her, squeezing her close to him.

"Yeah, Gin?"

"Do you love me?"

She really felt that one hit him. His whole body stiffened for a split second and then his arms relaxed around her. Shifting a bit he pulled back from her and she sat up so that she could look into his eyes. The emerald spheres staring back at her seemed to be searching for something, some reasoning behind this sudden questioning.

"You know I do."

Ginny closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. A tear that had been lingering, unshed, slid out from under her eye lid, leaving a wet trail on her cheek.

"I'm pregnant."

There was a moment when she wasn't sure she had said it loud enough for him to hear her. Then there was a moment where she wasn't sure he was still breathing, the air was so still around her. Opening her eyes, another few tears slipped out as she looked at him, worried about what he would think, how he would react. They had talked about starting a family of course, especially since Hermione was about to pop one of her own out. But she had barely finished school and neither of them really had jobs yet and she just wasn't sure they were ready, wasn't sure he was ready.

But then he smiled at her, full of that boyish quality that had made her fall in love with him. And she knew.


	2. RonHermione

"Oh Ronald Weasley you make me so bloody angry!"

Hermione came running up the stairs of the Burrow, the wooden building creaking so loudly that someone unaccustomed to it might be worried it would collapse. She proceeded past the twin's old room and Ginny's room, determined not to let him catch her. When s he reached the very top of the staircase she flew into Ron's own room and slammed the door behind her. In a flash she had extracted her wand from the back pocket of her blue jeans and activated the lock on the old wooden door, not moments before she heard Ron bang into it from the other side.

"C'mon 'Mione, I didn't mean to! It was an accident I promise. Now, let me in….please?"

But she didn't. Instead, the brunette turned her back on the door and looked into the room she and Ron and Harry had spent so many days lounging in and talking about everything, about life, about school, about Horcruxes. A part of her growing up had happened in this room. A part of her childhood had ended, not in the big way that a lot of girls talked about becoming a woman, in the sense that she had given up on her dreams of finishing school while sitting in this room. She had agreed to drop everything and run away with her two best friends to defeat the Dark Lord.

Now, thinking back on it made her smile the smallest smile. They had been out of their minds, thinking they could carry the world to victory on their own. It had all worked out though, she supposed, somehow they had made it through to the end. And what a story to tell! She had skipped her seventh year of schooling to run off with her best friend in the entire world, who just happened to be the savior of the wizarding world, and the boy she had been totally in love with for as long as she could remember. The latter of course was still babbling about something on the other side of the wooden door she had secured against him.

Of course she knew Ron never meant to hurt her, he was just a boy, and he didn't really have his head on right. But throughout their entire relationship she could pinpoint all of the important moments. There were the good days, the ones she had seen herself falling in love with him. First year when he had come to save her in the girl's lavatory from that nasty troll. Harry had been there, yes, but even then there had been something messy and utterly unorganized about Ronald. She had thought it was annoying at the time but as she grew she came to realize that feeling meant that she cared about him.

Third year, when Harry hadn't been at Hogsmeade with them, at first had been awkward but she had found herself pleasantly enjoying his company as the day went on. Fourth year when they had bonded during Ron and Harry's falling out. That had been bloody annoying but it had meant more time for just the two of them. Too bad he hadn't realized back then s he was the only one for him. Sixth year, when she thought she did a brilliant job of asking him to Slughorn's Christmas party, when it looked like they finally might get together as they were meant to.

And then they had left school and run away from home. It was irresponsible really. If you had asked Hermione her first year when she had met the two of them if she ever could see herself bagging school and running off on a secret mission with them she would have laughed in your face, turned on her heal and gone straight to the library to work on her homework. But now, she couldn't imagine having spent her seventeenth year of life any differently.

She could still feel the important moments that happened during that year as though she was still living them. Ron clutching her hand as though it were the end when t he wedding was broken up, as though they'd never have enough time together. There was the time at Grimmauld Place when she had watched his face turned rosy and flustered as he decided she should sleep on the sofa cushions while he took the floor. And then that night how she had listened to his voice as it soothed her to sleep and as she drifted off had felt him hold her hand in the softest way. Watching him dote on that Ministry employee's wife, worrying about her, trying to help her.

Finally it had come, the moment everyone had been waiting for. When he had shown his true colors, when he had finally let her know that it was okay to care about him because he cared about the things she cared about. And when that moment had come she couldn't hold it in anymore, it hadn't mattered. No matter what happened from there she had to kiss him. And she had. The memory of Harry being all bothered by it still made Hermione chuckle a bit, but it hadn't mattered, it still didn't matter. She was in love with Ron, not Harry. Harry, and it was awful to say but it was true, had essentially been just a catalyst in their romance novel, a way for them to meet and interact with each other. But Ron was different, he was her knight in shining armor. Who she was rightfully livid with at the moment, she had to remind herself.

"Go away Ronald, I don't want to talk to you"

And surprisingly she thought she heard him listen to her. The stairs creaking again as he descended them in what sounded like he was in a hurry. She sighed and sat down on the bed, rubbing her temples to diffuse her growing head ache.

It wasn't that she tried to be mad at Ron. She loved him after all, he was her polar opposite and they needed one another. But at the same time, he could be so infuriating. With those moments she believed had been them falling in love as teenagers, she could not deny the moments that had also made her want to bury him alive, those moments when he had made her feel helpless, like she was going to lose him.

First year he had gone and been a hero. Wizard Chess Champion that he was he had just gone and won the game for them, sacrificing himself in the process and she had been so bloody angry at him. As livid as she was though, even then she couldn't leave him like that, couldn't risk losing him. Third year, much the same, he had run off after that stupid rat and ended up being dragged off by the most ferocious beast she had ever seen (up until that point of course). Now she knew, of course that he had never been in any real danger at least from Sirius, but that hadn't been the point at the time.

Then there had been the times she had almost lost him out of mere stupidity on his part. His behavior at the Yule Ball of course had made her want to fall into Viktor's arms all the more. Sixth year when he had been disgusting with that whore Lavender Brown when they were supposed to be going to the party together.

When he had left her alone in the woods with Harry, crying and desperate for him she thought she would never see him again. That had been the worst, she thought. She had convinced herself she would die before she got the chance to see him again, or he would get caught and killed. And then grief had turned into anger and anger into loathing. And even when he came back and apologized and said it had been her voice that led him back to them she couldn't even be happy that he had returned so much had she convinced herself that he didn't care. He was such a stupid git, Ron was. She knew. Harry didn't have to tell her, Ginny didn't have to tell her, no one had to tell her, she already knew. Especially after today.

Oh, she was so angry at him. Ron did a lot of stupid things, this she knew, but this had taken the cake. A few months had passed since the battle. After things had calmed down and she was sure it was safe to do so she had gone to Australia with her two friends (and Ginny) and tracked down her parents. Reversing the Memory Spell had been a bit more difficult than she had anticipated but she'd finally gotten it right. Ron liked to attribute it to the fact that she'd been through a war, which could have been true but it still irritatated Hermione when he said that.

The Grangers of course hadn't been happy with her having sent them to Australia. She had listened to hours of lecturing and crying and arguing about how she had used her magic against them and that wasn't right. But finally she had explained everything to them, Voldemort, the Horcruxes, Harry, the whole bit. They had calmed down a bit then and began to understand she had done it for their own good, because she loved them. Since then, things had been alright but a bit confused. Of course, now that they were done being angry at her for sending them witless to another continent her parents' main focus was whether she planned to finish her schooling or not. That was fine with Hermione because there was nothing she wanted to do more than that at the moment. It would restore some normalcy to her life.

Today was the first time everyone had gotten together since the war had ended and all the funerals. It was supposed to be a time for them all to enjoy each other's company and to cherish the memory of those they had lost in the war. Andromeda had brought baby Teddy over and Bill and Fleur had come, Charlie had even come from wherever he had been working these days. George was here, the girl who helped him at the shop in tow. That was sad because it accented the absence of Fred, but George looked like he was doing as well as he could. Kingsley was present, which was a big to do because he was acting as Minister currently, Mrs. Weasley making him feel quite awkward doting on him. Harry and Ginny, of course, were also here. They were inseparable these days, making up for lost time she supposed.

More important than all that, however, was the fact that Hermione had brought her parents to the Burrow for the very first time today. They had met the Weasleys before briefly but this was the first time they were meeting them as her boyfriend's parents. Hermione had been so very nervous about the get together that Mrs. Weasley had been forced to pull her into the kitchen and give her a calming balm so she could enjoy herself a bit. It was all very embarrassing, but nothing near what Ronald had done.

Her loving, doting boyfriend had been acting strange all day. When her parents had arrived he'd given them bother startling bear hugs which had left them looking disheveled and confused, nothing close to the embarrassment Hermione had been feeling at the time. Of course, she understood, Ronald had never been very good with awkward situations, and he was most likely just as nervous as she was. But this was just too much!

Everything had been going remarkably well until everyone had sat down in the garden for their early dinner. Kingsley had to be back at the Ministry soon enough and so everyone had agreed to eat earlier than usual. Molly had been about to begin serving everyone when Bill said he and Fleur had an announcement. Everyone had known of course, assumed what was going on, but still that did not stop everyone from causing uproar of congratulations and excitement when Fleur had piped in to say they were expecting a baby.

It had not escaped Hermione's notice of course that Ron was the only one who was not cheering and rushing to congratulate them. In fact he had turned pasty white and wouldn't look at her as she tried to catch his eye. Finally she had been forced to step heavily on his foot under the table to get her to acknowledge her. The reaction she got was not the one she was expecting and was the exact reason why she was sitting here locked in his room right now. Instead of turning to her and saying 'Ouch don't do that' or 'What'd you do that for?' so she could hiss at him to act happy for his brother and sister-in-law, he proclaimed in a loud voice the following:

"No, Hermione! I don't want to have a baby with you!"

Of course the effect of that statement had been a complete reversal of attention. Mrs. Weasley had dropped the casserole dish she had been trying to deposit on the table so she could embrace her son, glass shards shattering everywhere. Her parents had mirrored Ron's ghost like appearance, her father's face beginning to turn very red after a split second of pasty white. Harry and Ginny had protested the comment at practically the exact same moment, George guffawing loudly for some reason in the background. And that was when, under a torrent of accusations and yelling and questions Hermione had pushed out her chair so hard it fell backwards and stormed into the house.

Really, was he out of his mind? They had hardly been dating officially for more than two months. There were already rumors of how she had been out in the woods all year sleeping with both boys she disappeared with. That was the best people could come with, now that they weren't worried about the Dark Lord killing them. The most interesting thing they had to do with their time was say she was out in the forest whoring it up with Harry Potter and his ginger best friend. Never mind that she had been busy killing herself trying to save their lives or anything. This was really the last thing she needed people thinking, that she was carrying Ron Weasley's spawn.

Now that she was good and mad at him just thinking about the whole incident, of course she heard the floorboard outside the door of the room creaking again.

"Go away Ron! I mean it! I don't even want to think about you being anywhere near me!"

But instead of listening to his footfalls descend again; she listened in horror as the lock clicked open. Turning quickly towards the door she was greeted with the sight of her boyfriend looking slightly rumpled and out of breath, holding his wand at his side.

"This is…my room…Left my…wand at the table…your dad's really mad."

He was quite out of breath and at any other time Hermione might have thought the effect was endearing but right now she just wanted to slam the door in his face.

"Well of course he's angry! Here he is expecting to have a nice evening with my boyfriend's family, about to enjoy dinner, and you announce to everyone that I'm pressuring you to have a baby! Of all things Ron! What on earth were you thinking?"

She watched as his face turned completely red, all the way up to the roots of his hair, which was getting unruly. Mrs. Weasley would surely want to give him a trim soon enough. Not that Hermione cared; she planned on never speaking to him again after this conversation.

"I'm sorry, 'Mione, it really just came out. I don't know what I was thinking. It really didn't mean it like that at all. You know how I get; sometimes I just get caught up in what I'm thinking and panic! I'm a git, you know that!"

Hermione scoffed at him. That was no excuse for his behavior. He could have said a million things if he had been thinking about having a baby, that did not imply that she was a baby crazy psychopath.

"You've been acting like a crazy person all day, Ron. I'm really livid with you. It'd be better if you just leave me alone before you make things worse trying to justify yourself."

"But-"

"Leave. Now….Please."

The sigh that he let out sounded so defeated. Hermione turned her back on him again, turning towards the window to watch the last bits of sunlight disappearing over the hill. She hoped everyone was eating without them, that her parents weren't too upset, that everyone knew she wasn't pregnant. She wasn't paying attention to what was happening behind her, subconsciously assuming Ron would take the high road and leave the room to let her mull and get over it in her own time. So when he spoke again and was far closer to her than before she almost jumped out of her skin.

"I'm sorry, 'Mione. I was trying to make it perfect."

She didn't turn around, still not wanting to even look at him looking pathetic. If she saw him looking like that she might just forgive him and she couldn't do that just yet. Of course she knew as soon as she went down and explained to everyone that Ron was out of his mind and there was no possible way they could be expecting a baby they would understand and call him a git and be done with it. She might have to promise her father while holding a Bible that she was still a virgin but if that meant he wasn't going to try and murder Ron then she'd do it.

"It didn't have to be perfect, Ronald. All you had to do was convince my parents you weren't crazy and you couldn't even do that. It didn't have to be perfect; it just had to be normal."

Closing her eyes, Hermione sighed. Maybe she should have just left her parents in Australia so they didn't have to deal with all of this. When Ron spoke again she was surprised he was even closer to her, right next to her in fact.

"No, it was supposed to be perfect and I screwed it up. I just…you deserve perfection but I guess you'll just have to settle for me."

Hermione's eyes snapped open. She understood in an instant and felt like an idiot. Turning her head to the side, her suspicions were confirmed when she saw Ron kneeling on the floor next to her. His wand was sitting next to her on the bed where he had set it and in his hands, which were shaking, was a tiny box which he held open towards her, containing a small ring. It was simple and she loved it the moment she saw it but her heart was racing and she couldn't quite process what was going on.

"Ron, what-"

"Hermione, I love you. I've loved you for years and I've always been a git and screwed it up. And I couldn't even get this right so I feel like a bloody fool even asking you because I knew I don't deserve you. But I think you love that about me, 'Mione. I don't think you'd love me any other way. We've been through a war together and fought tooth and nail for years and years and all I want to do is fight with you for the rest of my life. And I'd like to think that's what you'd like to do too."

She could already feel the tears in her eyes. He was so bad at this, this moment that she had dreamed about since she was a little girl was nothing like what she had imagined. But it was so totally Ron, babbling about nothing and making hardly any sense but looking so sincere and hopeful that she just wanted to throw her arms around him.

"I know it's really fast. But we've been meant for each other for ages and everyone's known it but us so really we've been headed in this direction since we met. And I don't want to risk losing you again. I want to marry you so that I can spend the rest of my life being a git and making up for it."

Hermione laughed. This was the worst proposal she had ever heard. But she loved it. And he was right; she didn't want him any other way. Yes he was a bloody git sometimes and she had no idea what was going through his head most of the time but it was those moments that made the moments when she felt love for him all the better. Turning her body toward him, Hermione carefully took the tiny ring from its holder and put it on her hand, in its place. Of course it fit perfectly, she was sure he'd had help with that, or maybe someone had charmed it to fit to her finger. She wondered who.

The thought that she had just put on her engagement ring hit her in an instant and she choked up a bit, one of her hands flying up to her mouth to stop the little sob of emotion before it escaped her. Leaning forward she put both of her arms again him, hugging him tightly to her. She was going to be frustrated with him a lot but at least, as he said; he would have forever to make up for it.

"So…that's a yes?"

Laughing again Hermione pulled back from him, still too choked up to speak but nodding her head vigorously. In a very characteristic moment Ron jumped up and did a sort of awkward victory dance that had her collapsing in a fit of laughter. She watched him run to the door and stand at the top of the steps, yelling down.

"She said yes! Hey! She said yes!"

((Author's Notes: Sorry about the abrupt ending. I'm kind of bad at endings currently, haha can't quite figure out what to do with them. Everything seems cheesy. Hope you liked it. It ended up a lot longer than I thought it would.)


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